PRYDE Scholars present at the Society for Neuroscience 2019
PRYDE Scholars Adjoa Fosuhema-Kordie, Morgan Chadwick, and Patrick Crossen (left to right) present their poster at the Society for Neuroscience 2019.
The Society for Neuroscience is an organization comprised of scientists, physicians, and students from around the world committed to learning about and staying educated about neuroscience and its applications in the world. Education, outreach, and connection between neuroscientists is most effective and fun at the annual Neuroscience conference. The conference attracts more than 30,000 people from over 80 countries! Neuroscience 2019 hosted poster sessions, speakers, workshops, vendors, and more to advocate for scientific exchange and support the neuroscience community. The conference was held in Chicago, Illinois from October 19th to 23rd. This year, PRYDE scholars Morgan Chadwick, Patrick Crossen, and Adjoa Fosuhema-Kordie had the opportunity to join in the advancement of scientific knowledge and represent Cornell University by presenting about their current project.
The scholars are currently working as undergraduate research assistants on the Get to Know Your Brain Days Project with Professors Eve De Rosa, Adam Anderson, and Anthony Burrow. Every month, the scholars deliver interactive neuroscience lessons to K-4th grade students at the Syracuse Academy of Sciences, a public charter school serving inner-city youth, to teach them about personal agency over brain development. The lessons are delivered in three framing groups: growth mindset, purpose, and biological. Both growth mindset and purpose have been found to influence academic achievement. While all students learn the same neuroscience facts, students in the growth mindset and purpose groups receive lessons that are framed around key tenants of growth mindset and purpose. The conference gave scholars the opportunity to share results from the first year of the project and highlight that young students understand and respond positively to neuroscience lessons.
The conference gave the scholars an opportunity to develop their skills as translational researchers. They learned how to develop a real-world “elevator pitch” for their Brain Days research project. This provided them with a platform to be able to defend their work to other researchers at SFN, allowing them to think more critically about the design of their project. Consequently, this task strengthened their public speaking skills and improved their ability to ‘translate’ their research into clearer terms. Through the development of the poster and their work on the project, they were able to better understand the entirety of the research process from study design to data analysis to dissemination.
The scholars also got the unique opportunity to see other education-based neuroscience lessons. This allowed them to be able to talk with other researchers working at the intersection between neuroscience and education. As such, the scholars were able to engage in meaningful and productive conversations that helped them evaluate ways to improve their project for the upcoming year.
During their trip the scholars did find a little time for fun! They were able to enjoy Chicago’s famous deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s and - of course - saw the rather mesmerizing “bean” at Millennium Park. Overall, the trip not only allowed the scholars to hone their skills as researchers, but also allowed them to develop greater synergy between their research team.